January 17, 2016 - Airbus And Uber (Uber
Technologies, Inc.) have partnered to provide
consumers with helicopter service using the Uber
app. The service will follow Uber's current
model which will allow consumers with
smartphones to submit a trip request which is
then routed to a helicopter service.

In late May 2015, Airbus Group had announced a
plan to establish its
Silicon Valley
operations with a fully independent venture
capital fund and an innovation center, which has
been branded A³ by Airbus Group. Airbus Ventures
has now completed its core leadership team
set-up and is operating with a $150 million
commitment from Airbus Group.

At the 2016 Digital-Life-Design conference in
Munich, A³ CEO Tom Enders
told participants that the fund’s mission is to
identify and invest in the most visionary
entrepreneurs in the global aerospace ecosystem.

As
one of its first projects, A³ is collaborating
with mobility provider Uber on a market pilot to
provide an on demand transportation service
using Airbus Group’s H125 and H130 helicopters
with a goal of proving a new business model for
helicopter operators to access a broader
customer base.

Enders said the app will be the first step in a
project that aims to “connect air transport to
ground transport in an integrated way.”

Uber
Technologies based in San Francisco,
California. It has a
customer base in North, Central, and South
Americas, Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, and the Asia Pacific.

The company was founded in 2009, as UberCab Inc.
However, in 2010 the company changed its name to
Uber Technologies (Uber). The company core
service is to provide users who are looking for
ground services (taxi services) with its Uber
app which allows users to arrange and schedule
transportation services with third party
providers.

Uber had tried out this concept back in 2013, when it
offered UberChopper service between Manhattan and the
Hamptons
and the company had also provided UberChopper service at
the Cannes Film Festival in May and in June the company
provided services during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts
Festival in June. The cost ranged from several hundred
dollars to several thousands of dollars.